.5: The Gray Chapter by Slipknot
.5: The Gray Chapter is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Released in Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands on October 17, 2014, the UK on October 20, 2014 and in North America on October 21, 2014 by Roadrunner Records. It was the first studio album by the band in six years and the first not to feature original founding members bassist Paul Gray and drummer Joey Jordison due to the death of Gray in 2010 (the title of the album being a reference to his surname), and Jordison being fired from the band in late 2013, as well as the only Slipknot album to feature original guitarist Donnie Steele on bass, although the tracks he played on are unknown, and the first Slipknot album to have Alessandro Venturella on bass and Jay Weinberg on drums. The album includes six singles and has received commercial success and acclaiming reviews. A standard and deluxe edition of the album was released. It is also the band's final studio album to feature their longtime percussionist Chris Fehn before his dismissal from the band due to a lawsuit in March 2019.
Grief and loss aren't something typically associated with horror-core specialists Slipknot, but when founding bassist Paul Gray died in 2010 they dedicated <i>The Gray Chapter</i> to their friend. Slipknot's first album in six years, it's both a eulogy and a means of moving on. "I don't want to get up, but I have to," sings Corey Taylor on the opener, "XIX". What follows is a blitzkrieg of a tribute.
